Save Today
by IncompleteSentanc
Summary: Minato had planned for every outcome, even the absolute worst. He had a plan, and a back up plan, and a back up plan for his back up plan. Thus, when the seal broke and the Kyuubi was freed, he already had a child set aside to fill the role of Jinchuuriki - and it wasn't his own son. Sakura Haruno, half-Uzumaki, was chosen instead. This... changed things. (eventual Sakura/Shika)
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**So! Hello everyone! To start with, let me just get this out there - while this is my first story posted, it's far from my first story written. I've been on FFnet for _years_ but I've never gotten the guts to post something until now. Hopefully, the reception will be a good one! I've played with this idea for a long time now and I've written TONS of content for it, though there are lots of gaps to fill before each chapter gets posted. I won't try to guess how often I'll update, but it shouldn't be too slow?**

 **Anyways! I want to make it clear right off the bat that Sakura will NOT be talking Naruto's place in the world. Not to spoil anything, but she won't be the savior of the Naruto World or anything. Nor will she be anything like the Sakura you know and most people kind of hate for reasons and stuff (Kishimotoooo!). I'm not going to get anymore into that, cause you'll see for yourself what I mean once I get the first actual _chapter_ posted! **

**This story will be a bit darker, though. Depressing and violent, but nothing that should be trigger-y. If that changes, there will be warnings. Anyways, read on and feel free to give constructive criticism - I genuinely appreciate it when people point out ways for me to improve on my writing.**

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Chapter 1: Prologue

Minato looked down at the infant in his arms skeptically. "Are you sure she's the best option? She's an _infant."_ Minato argued, looking sideways at Jiraiya. The older man rolled his eyes.

"Underneath the underneath, Minato." He lectured scoldingly. "Look at her hair."

"It's _pink_." Minato pointed out with a slight grimace. "Not red."

"Close enough. The medics are doing chakra testing and matching it against Kushina's, but as far as we can tell, she's as good as we're getting. This girl's got Uzumaki blood in her."

"Maybe so, but how muddled would it have to be for the red hair gene to lose dominance? It's entirely probable that she doesn't even have any of the attributes we're looking for."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes skyward. "We have no idea how dominant bright red hair even _is_ , Minato. For all we know, you're full-Uzumaki wife is about to pop out a blondie like you. Anyways, would you trust me for once, kid? I know what I'm doing here. Her dad's Uzumaki, and I performed the damned tests myself - she's got _incredible_ chakra control. Haven't seen anything like it since Tsunade." His lips twitched downward slightly at the name and Minato's annoyance was momentarily overridden by sympathy.

His old sensei still hadn't gotten over the loss of his teammate. Tsunade's abandonment of Konoha was painful even after so many years. "That might be the case, but what we're looking for is chakra _type_." Minato pointed out, much less rudely, and Jiraiya shrugged.

"I know. Her chakra isn't half as unique as Kushina's, honestly." He admitted after a moment. "But it's closer to Kushina's than anyone else we've tested, and her chakra control will make up for what she's lacking there, no?"

"But this isn't what we're looking for." Minato said, frowning lightly at his mentor. "An _infant_ , Jiraiya…" Minato shook his head with a sigh. "Kushina already had years of happiness before she had the Kyuubi sealed in her. All that hatred would go uncontrolled in an infant."

"I know - I agree, even. I wouldn't choose a baby for this if we had any other choice here, but none of the shinobi have anything like Kushina's chakra, and those who are even a _little_ close to it have miserable personalities for it. Sorry, but Kakashi's personality _sucks_." Jiraiya pointed out mildly, and Minato snorted softly.

"I can't argue with that." He said in soft amusement. His apprentice didn't exactly have a _bad_ personality, but he was far too jaded and cold to be able to fight against the Kyuubi's influence. Obito's death had made the pre-teen much less cold-hearted, but Rin's death… Minato grimaced at the memory of his team. Rin's death had pushed Kakashi to joining the ANBU, and while he still wasn't half as cold-hearted as he used to be, he was incredibly bitter and jaded.

Minato scanned the lax face of the babe he held, grimace softening. "You'll make a good father." Jiraiya observed, and the grimace returned full force. "What?"

"We're talking about extreme measures in case my wife dies horribly while giving birth to our child and the Kyuubi get's set loose, probably killing everyone else there except maybe me because I can Hiraishin away." Minato explained grimly. "It makes the future seem a little disheartening to me."

"Eh. These are just worst case scenarios we're planning for, kid. We've got all of our bases covered - I doubt anything will happen. I doubt even more than anything that _does_ happen will get through the small army of ANBU the old man's got planned for you." Jiraiya pointed out with a shrug. "Relax, kid. We've got this - all _you_ need to worry about is Kushina's seal. She kind of looks like Tsunade, doesn't she?" Jiraiya changed the subject so suddenly it took Minato a minute to understand he was referring to the baby, not Kushina.

The blonde Hokage looked at the infant in question, frowning thoughtfully. "I don't see it." He admitted after a moment.

"That's because you never saw Tsunade before she was all grown up." Jiraiya explained, demonstrating his meaning by groping the air in front of his chest. Minato scowled at his lewdness.

"Sensei-"

"I know, I know. Seriously, though, it's in the eyes. Tsunade's were shaped the same way when she was a kid." Jiraiya said honestly, reaching out to carefully take the four month old from Minato's arms.

"She is cute, I suppose." Minato admitted after a moment, almost grudgingly, and Jiraiya snorted.

"Are you serious? She's _adorable_." He said the last word at an almost painfully high pitched, and the little girl gave a muffled sound of protest in response. She wiggled briefly in Jiraiya's arms, lips parting in a wide yawn-

Alright.

Maybe Jiraiya was right. But it didn't change the fact that she wasn't exactly what they were looking for. If Jiraiya was telling the truth, though, he genuinely thought she was the best option they had. Minato let out a soft sigh, reaching up to run his fingers lightly through his hair. "Who is she, anyways?"

"The Haruno's kid. Kizashi's the one with the Uzumaki lineage. Cherry red hair, just a little darker than Kushina's." Jiraiya explained. "His wife's got blonde hair."

Minato paused at that, squinting down at the babe skeptically. "...Does that mean Naruto might have… pink hair?" He asked slowly, not allowing his horror to reflect in his tone. Jiraiya gave him a shit-eating grin regardless.

" _That_ would be a sight. Hokage's son, wielding bright pink hair and Rasengans." He cackled in spite of Minato's withering glare. It wasn't until the baby let out a muffled squawk of protest that Jiraiya stopped, so suddenly that Minato's anger drained away to amusement. The Sannin looked down at the baby with wide eyes, clearly silently praying that she didn't wake up.

"What's her name?"

"Uh... Sakura?" Jiraiya guessed very slowly, then nodded to himself. "Yeah, that's right. Sakura. Not very imaginative of them." He added with a small shrug.

The thoughtless jostling finally woke up the babe with a high pitched wail that made both men flinch. "Well done, sensei." Minato applauded dryly, and the older man scowled in response. The Sannin quickly turned his attention to the wailing infant, shifting her slightly before slowly rocking her.

After several minutes of silence broken only by her cries, the baby finally started to settled down, dark blue eyes becoming heavy lidded. " _You_ should be doing this." Jiraiya half-hissed accusingly, and Minato immediately held his hands up, shaking his head.

"Nuh uh. I'm going to have to do enough of that soon enough as it is. I'm considering this a pre-emptive vacation." Minato refused flatly, and Jiraiya snorted softly.

"Coward."

"Guilty." Minato said cheerfully.

Jiraiya grumbled something less than respectful under his breath. Minato politely pretended he didn't hear it. "How long until the tests will be done?"

"Probably not much longer - it's a priority." He said with a shrug.

"What'd you tell her parents?"

"Told 'em it was Hokage business, and reassured them it was nothing to worry about. They're shinobi - even if they were less than happy about it, they understand not to ask questions."

"And if she _is_ a match? We can't go through with this without their approval - I won't condemn a baby to this life without the support of her parents, at the _very_ least."

"Kid, would you _relax_?" Jiraiya gave a long suffering sigh. "If she is a match, we'll have a meeting and decide how much to disclose to the parents. One step at a time, kid."

"That's easy for you to say, sensei. This is personal - I need everything-" A knock on the door interrupted him, and Minato squinted in mild annoyance before he gently cleared his throat. "Enter." He called, making Sakura's sleepy eyes shoot open again. Jiraiya froze, watching her warily as a shinobi strode into the room and handed a sheet of paper to Minato. The pink-haired infant didn't return to crying, simply looking around with dark blue, drowsy eyes.

Minato narrowed his eyes as he read the paper, then read it a second time, and finally lowered it to his desk. "Thank you." He said dismissively to the shinobi, who gave a curt bow and left the office, quietly locking the door behind him. Jiraiya arched an eyebrow at Minato questioningly, and the blonde silently lifted the paper and offered it to him. The older man shifted Sakura to one arm, the little baby watching his movements with wide eyes, and reached out to take the paper.

His eyebrows lifted slightly, and after a long moment, Jiraiya handed the paper back, looking down at the baby girl. "Well, looks like you're the new Plan B, kid." He observed, eyeballing the babe critically. "Hopefully, we'll never need you." He added a little wistfully, then held the girl out to the Hokage. "Minato." Jiraiya offered, and the man rose to his feet, walking around his desk to place his fingers on the babe's right palm.

His fingertips glowed for a moment, black marks searing painlessly into the baby girl's palm, before they slowly sunk into the flesh and vanished from sight. Minato stared silently at the unmarred flesh for a long, silent minute, easily sensing the Hiraishin mark hidden there, before looking at Jiraiya with a flat expression. "Bring her parents to the Council room. We have plans to make."

* * *

Sarutobi stared down at the two infants, his heart aching - for them, as well as for himself. They had all lost much to the Kyuubi, but none more than them. Minato and Kushina, dying to protect Naruto and to seal the Kyuubi in Sakura. Mebuki and Kizashi had died and orphaned Sakura as well. They had been one of the first to fall, personally volunteering to help guard Kushina during the birth. Perhaps it was out of a sense of duty all shinobi shared - but more likely, it was because they wanted to ensure their daughter wasn't needed as the new Jinchuuriki.

They had been willing, in the end, but very reluctantly. So reluctantly that Sarutobi wondered if it wasn't better for Sakura to be orphaned - somehow, he doubted her parents would have been able to look past the Kyuubi's seal on her stomach.

Regardless, it left him in a difficult position.

Word had gotten out about Sakura's state, and too many shinobi had been there to see it happen for Sarutobi to know _who_ broke his order to keep silent. Even if he did, it would do nothing - the word was spreading too quickly to stop it now, and he feared what that meant for Sakura. Very few people would be trusted to adopt the Jinchuuriki, and none of them were willing to. Jiraiya would have been the best choice, and Sarutobi would have forced Sakura on him, but the man had come in to visit Naruto once and then vanished.

Sarutobi didn't have the heart to hunt him down and sic the two children on him, even if he _had_ agreed to foster Naruto if anything happened. None of them had imagined it would be something this terrible, and Jiraiya needed time to grieve. Sarutobi reached up to rub his forehead, sighing softly.

Something needed to be done, and he didn't know what.

It took him several hours to finally admit that all he could do was try his best to lessen the damage. He couldn't spare her the damage completely - not when no one was willing to take in the host of the creature that had killed so many and destroyed so much. "If only I were younger." He murmured apologetically to the pink haired baby and blonde haired newborn.

When Sarutobi filled out the paperwork for them at the Orphanage, it was with a sorrowful feeling that all he could do was something so small. But perhaps, with a little pushing here and there, he could ensure it became a much bigger help to the poor infants. Perhaps it would be enough for them to at least have each other.

 _Naruto Uzumaki. Sakura Uzumaki,_ he wrote in the top margins.

 _Let this be enough._


	2. Chapter 2: A New Home

**Hello again! I'm super excited and pleased by how many of you like this story. Some of your reviews were really, really inspiring - and touching - and it gave me the confidence to post this chapter after only four episodes of panicky re-reading and editing.**

 **Hopefully I'll lose some of my nerves as we go on in this story, haha. I hope you all enjoy it! =)**

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Chapter 2: A New Home

She hated Konoha.

It wasn't a secret, nor was it a secret that Konoha hated her. It wasn't so often known that it was Konoha who hated her first, though.

Sakura had been four when she learned she was different. She'd grown up until then in the orphanage, under the gentle hand of Matron Yakushi. Nono, she had let Sakura call her, and Sakura had adored her all the more for it. Most of the other orphans, even though they were on the outskirts of Konoha, had known enough to be cruel to her. She hadn't minded, though, because she wasn't alone.

She had Matron Yakushi, and more importantly, she had Naruto, who wasn't her brother even though they were both Uzumaki's. It didn't matter to them, though. By the time they were old enough to learn they weren't siblings, but apparently cousins, they were too close for that to bother them. No, they stuck together, no matter how mean the other kids were to her. No matter how mean they were to Naruto for being close to her, too.

But then Matron Yakushi disappeared. No one knew where she went, and after four days of nothing at all, a new Matron replaced her. Sakura did _not_ like her, and the Matron did not like _her_ , either. It only took another four days after that for things to rather abruptly explode. The Matron withheld her food for the day, saying nothing as she passed food to everyone and just _conveniently forgot_ to feed Sakura, too. Of course, by dinner, Naruto was too angry for Sakura to stop him from yelling at the Matron.

Then the Matron yelled _back_ , and Sakura yelled at her for yelling at Naruto for yelling in the _first_ place, and the Matron hit her. Sakura, already as angry as she was, growled at her for that and the Matron flinched, moving to hit her again.

Which was when a masked man appeared in the way, seizing the woman's wrist in a grip so tight she went white in the face. "I believe it's time for you to retire to your room for the evening, Matron." The masked man said flatly, and the Matron nodded so hard Sakura was surprised her head didn't fall off.

She wished it did. Her face was starting to hurt and she reached up to touch her cheek, tears itching at her eyes. "I'm sorry." She said apologetically to the masked man, sniffing a bit, and he did something that made the Matron gasp before he let go of her. She turned and ran, slamming her bedroom door behind her, and the man turned around to face her and Naruto.

"Don't apologize, kid. You did nothing wrong."

"Then why was she so angry?" Sakura asked uncertainly and the man sighed softly.

"Because she's a terrible person who should be ashamed of herself." He said, a little loudly. For a long moment he looked around the room while she and Naruto exchanged uncertain looks, and then he nodded and offered his hands to them. "Well, that's that, then. Take my hands and we'll go someplace she won't be able to hurt you again."

Sakura looked at Naruto again, meeting his uncertain gaze for a moment. Then the blonde shrugged and took the offered hand, so Sakura warily did the same.

Wind rushed past them and barely a moment later, the orphanage was gone and they were standing in a well lit living room with a _real tea table_ that Sakura was immediately fascinated by. The cushions looked _really_ comfy. "What's happened?" A new voice had her looking up in alarm, blinking at the old man rising from the nearest sofa. The masked man dropped their hands and turned to him, dropping to a kneel.

"The new Matron hit her, Hokage-sama." The masked man said deeply, his words making Naruto gasp a little. Sakura stared at him nervously (the _Hokage himself?_ ) and he stared right back for a moment before his attention moved to her cheek.

"I see." He said in a flat tone that only made her more nervous. People used that tone when they were angry, which meant someone was getting yelled at, and since he was staring at _her_...

"I sensed nothing, Hokage-sama, but she growled." The masked man adds and for some reason, that had the Hokage meeting her gaze intently again before he glanced to Naruto. Naruto, who stared back, utterly starstruck.

Sakura did what any good sibling would do and jabbed him with her elbow He turned to shoot her an irritated look before she glanced pointedly at the Hokage. His expression immediately became sheepish and he glanced down at the floor, free hand rising to rub the back of his head. Only for him to look back up again a moment later, his expression suddenly defiant as he stared at the Hokage.

"She didn't do anything wrong!" He proclaimed, _daring_ the Hokage to say otherwise. "She wouldn't let Sakura-chan eat."

"Um." Sakura winced, quickly jabbing Naruto again - this time because he was being rude to the _Hokage_. She preferred the stupid staring to _that_.

"Is this true?" The Hokage asked, turning back to Sakura with a deep frown. She winced a little at the expression, lowering her gaze and nodding shamefully. She still didn't know what she'd done to the Matron, but she had to have done _something_ wrong.

"It is, Hokage-sama." The masked man adds quietly, drawing the old man's attention. "She allowed everyone else food, but withheld meals from the girl. There were no reports of a confrontation beforehand."

"I see." The Hokage said quietly, closing his eyes for several long, tense moments. Sakura focused on the floor, her toes digging into the carpet a little. It was a soft carpet, so no one could blame her for that. The orphanage just had old wood floors that sometimes actually gave them _splinters_.

"Hmm." The Hokage finally broke the silence, staring past both children with a pensive frown. "...Very well. You're dismissed." He told the masked man, who immediately vanished in a small rush of air.

"Whoa." Naruto blinked at the suddenly empty spot, his eyes wide, and the Hokage hummed, suddenly looking at them again.

"Impressive, isn't it? It's a jutsu known as the shunshin." He explained, his voice warmer and patient.

"Really?" Naruto asked eagerly and Sakura looked up a little nervously at the Hokage. She was relieved to see him watching Naruto with a soft smile instead of glaring at her and relaxed a little at that. His voice had gotten nicer, too.

"Really. All shinobi can do it, you know. Even most genin."

"Wow. Can I learn?"

Sakura wrinkled her nose as the Hokage laughed, wishing Naruto wouldn't ask such silly questions. Of _course_ he couldn't. "You aren't a shinobi." She scolded him quietly and Naruto huffed at her.

"So? I can be one."

"Do you want to be?" The Hokage asked in mild interest and Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Kura-chan, too." He proclaimed proudly, making Sakura _really_ want to elbow him when it made the Hokage look at her curiously.

"Is that so?" He prodded after a moment of silence, and Sakura reluctantly nodded, keeping her gaze low. She anxiously knotted her fingers together behind her back, resisting the urge to fidget even more.

"I want to protect people." She said quietly.

Luckily, what she lacked in confidence, Naruto made up for in enthusiasm. He threw his arm over her shoulders, nodding quickly. "Yeah! One day, we're gonna be the best shinobi _ever_."

To her relief, the Hokage smiled outright at that, nodding his head. "I believe you might just be, Sakura, Naruto." He acknowledged with a soft, considering hum. "Well. We can speak more about that in the future. For now, let's get you settled in. Follow me, I'll show you to the guest rooms."

"We're staying here?" Naruto blurted out instantly, lowering his arm from Sakura's shoulders to instead tightly grip her hand as the Hokage nodded.

"Yes. It would be my honor to take you two in. An honor that your Matron should also have been happy to have - but unfortunately, she was not as kind as she ought to be in that profession."

Sakura wasn't sure she understood all the words, but she got the gist of it and nodded her agreement. The Hokage smiled sadly at her before setting his hands on both of their head. "Right. This way, then, the both of you. You can stay together for now, if that'll make you more comfortable."

"Please!" Sakura requested instantly, tightening her grip on Naruto's hand.

* * *

Things did not get better. Things got much, much worse. Instead of being confined to just having the orphans mean to her, she was suddenly faced with the entirety of Konoha against her. Naruto had braved the streets with her for the first time, three days after moving in with Jiji - the _Hokage himself_ \- and it took them four hours to give up on finding a playground to play peacefully in.

Every time they got near one, parents took their children away or worse, chased her and Naruto off instead. They decided to just give up for the day, returning 'home' in sullen silence.

At least that was one bright point in her altered life. It was weird, to think of it as a home. She'd never had a home before, neither of them had, but the Hokage - who insisted she call him Jiji like Naruto cheerfully did - was kind and did everything he could to make them feel welcome.

Eventually, after three months, she finally did.

But she never once felt welcome in Konoha.

When she was five, eight months after they moved in with Jiji, they were eating dinner when he broached the subject again. "Do you both still want to become shinobi?" He asked and Naruto immediately started bouncing in his seat.

"Yes! Please, Jiji, please please please?" He begged eagerly while Sakura just blinked owlishly at her food.

"Sakura-chan?" Jiji prodded after a moment and she cleared her throat.

"Yes." She answered honestly, because she did want to become a shinobi - especially since Naruto was obviously going to. "I want to protect people." She repeated her answer from before, remembering the way someone had actually thrown _rocks_ at her and Naruto a few weeks ago. Another masked man (ANBU, Jiji had told them) had stepped in and escorted them home, but if she was a shinobi then she could protect herself and Naruto herself.

Maybe… Maybe then, people wouldn't hurt them so often.

Jiji stared at her for a long moment while Naruto continued to rattle off a thousand 'please's before he finally nodded. "Very well. Naruto will be a little younger than the rest of the class, but that's alright. I know you two don't want to be separated." He said, making Sakura's eyes widen.

"No." She confirmed immediately, looking at him worriedly.

"Don't worry. I understand. Naruto, you won't be five when the classes start in two months, but that's alright. You're skilled for your age." Jiji praised with a warm smile.

He spent more time with them, after that, taking them into his large back yard to show them how to throw shuriken and kunai. It was easier for her than for Naruto, whose clumsiness worked against his aim, but they both got better under Jiji's guiding hands. He was ever patient, which was amazing to Sakura, because she'd never seen anyone else be able to tolerate Naruto for so long without at least looking irritated.

It's good.

It's… _nice_.

The Academy was actually pretty nice, too. At first, most people were rude to her and Naruto, but Naruto's overabundance of niceness actually won over some of the kids - and, eventually, even their sensei too. Iruka-sensei had never been outright mean to her, though he had been a bit awkward and distant at first. Naruto was an unstoppable force, though, and soon enough Iruka was dragged into his enthusiasm as well.

He even offered to keep them after class a few days a week so they could work on taijutsu - the one thing she and Naruto were both lacking in, for very different reasons. Naruto didn't have the patience to stop trying to go right for the jugular, whereas Sakura didn't have the confidence to hit half as hard as she needed to most of the time. It made her slower, too.

But Iruka helped with that, and after two months, he even took them out to dinner for their first time ever - even if it was just ramen. And to Sakura's amazement, the people who worked there were actually _nice_ to her and Naruto, without them having to fight for it first.

And slowly, her life got brighter - and also darker. Brighter because when she was at the Academy, she was treated _well_. She was able to be _happy_ , with the only obstacle being Ino and her pack who still bullied her - but even then, Ino's heart didn't seem to be in it most of the time.

Then they'd leave, though, and on the way home they'd have to face Konoha's cruelty again. The insults and the glares and the occasional trash thrown at them suddenly felt all the worse because now she knew that it wasn't _right_. Now she knew that people _could_ be nice to her, and that it wasn't fair that she always had to _fight_ to get some common courtesy from them. It bothered her, making her depressed at times, but mostly it made her angry.

She tried not to show that, though, because Jiji always looked worried and worse, Naruto got even more upset when she was angry. So she kept it to herself and focused on ignoring the meanness and basking in the affection Jiji and Iruka gave her.

By the time she was seven, it had gotten both better and worse, as seemed to be her usual life. The older she got, the more she noticed how people treated her, and the more she understood how horrible it was; and therefore the more angry it made her. She did her best to ignore it, but sometimes she just _couldn't_ , especially if Naruto was in detention and she was on her own. Something that was also happening more and more, because Naruto too got angry more often.

"I hate it." Naruto told her one day, glaring daggers at the back of a civilian who had actually tried to _spit_ on them. "I hate _them_."

And even though she agreed with it one hundred percent, anger bubbling in her gut, she shook her head at Naruto. "You shouldn't. They aren't worth it. They're _nothing_." She spat the word with as much anger as the civilian had spat 'monster' at her, and Naruto suddenly looked more concerned than angry.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just.. angry." Sakura said, a little defensive, but Naruto… Naruto didn't seem _capable_ of being upset with her, so he just nodded understandingly.

"Yeah. I'm going to paint stuff on his house, can you get home alright?" He asked after a moment, suddenly focused on the civilian again.

Sakura giggled a little, anger vanishing in the face of his protectiveness. Even if everyone hated her, at least she had him. "I'll be fine." She agreed and Naruto was off like a bolt of lightning. "Don't get caught again!" Sakura called after him before heading home.

Home.

She was getting more and more used to having one.

When she reached it, Jiji was inside making dinner and looking surprised to see her alone. "Did Naruto get into trouble again?"

"Not yet." Sakura told him a little shyly, hoping he wouldn't be angry, but to her relief he just gave a soft, amused huff.

"What now?"

"A civilian spat at us, so he's painting stuff on their house."

"I see." Jiji said thoughtfully, considering the pot of food for a moment before turning to her. "I'm sorry you have to deal with such cruelty." He said quietly, sincerely, and Sakura frowned a little before shrugging.

"It's alright. I've got you and Naruto." She told him confidently, making the old man look very touched as he turned back to the pot.

Sakura nodded to herself, satisfied he didn't catch the anger his words had caused her.

It didn't matter, anyways. The cruelty was just part of her life.

It just bothered her that it was part of Naruto's, too.

* * *

It figured that she'd snap when Naruto wasn't around. Fear of disappointing or upsetting him was usually enough to keep her in line, and something about him just calmed her down anyways - probably that he was so nice to her. Either way, it came to a head a month after Naruto's seventh birthday, when he was in detention for another episode of monument defacing (the First's head, this time. It had been the Fourth's last time, which had made Jiji twitch funny) and Jiji was staying late in the office.

So she innocently stopped in an empty playground on her way home. It was quiet, and no one bothered her as she spent a few moments swinging on the swing. It was ruined, of course, by the arrival of a young woman with a baby too little to even enjoy the playground _anyways_ , but that didn't stop her from freaking out on Sakura.

"Monster's aren't welcome here, you little freak! Not around our innocent children!" She'd screamed, and Sakura hadn't been able to stop herself.

She really, really hadn't.

She growled and the woman paled, going stark white and clutching her baby closer. "You… you _horrible_ demon." The woman whimpered, and Sakura jumped off the swing and to her feet, the woman flinching a step back. She bared her teeth at her, and that was all it took for her to turn tail and bolt.

Sakura watched her go, anger draining away and smugness replacing it. "Stupid woman." She mutters to herself, turning back to the swing and freezing.

Because suddenly there was an ANBU member standing next to the swingset, leaning against the angled bars with his arms folded across his chest. He was taller than Sakura, but not adult height, and Sakura frowned at him because she'd never seen him before.

"That was rude." He said, purely observatory, and Sakura bristled, her anger returning.

Surely he wasn't calling _her_ rude, in the face of what that woman had been saying?

"Calm down." The boy said, much more soothing now. "It wasn't a criticism. She was the one being awful, not you." He explained with a small shrug that had Sakura relaxing a bit again.

"You guys don't usually talk to me." _No one usually talks to me. They just insult me,_ She thought bitterly, and some of it must've shown, because the boy sighed quietly.

"No, we don't, but technically speaking, I was supposed to intervene the second you growled."

"Why?" Sakura asked immediately, narrowing her eyes at him. He just shrugs, which irritates her. "Then why didn't you?"

"I wanted to see what you'd do. Now, c'mon. I need to take you to the Hokage after that."

"Why? I didn't do anything wrong!" Sakura snapped defensively, only barely restraining herself from stomping her foot. "You heard what she was saying!"

"Yes. And you should know by now that terrifying civilians is wrong." The boy scolded her lightly. "Come on." He instructed again, holding his hand out to her.

Sakura took it resentfully, looking up at his mask and making _sure_ he could see the death glare she was sending him.

He, unfortunately, didn't seem affected as he shunshin'd them away. Moments later, they were in front of Jiji's desk, the old man frowning down at them in concern. "What's happened?"

"A civilian cornered her in a playground and called her a monster." The ANBU explained, suddenly all business. Then he added blandly, "Repeatedly."

Jiji sighed, heavy and tired.

"She growled at her and scared her off. I brought her straight here, Hokage-sama." The ANBU added, releasing Sakura's hand and bowing lowly. Jiji waved a hand at him dismissively and the ANBU vanished in a swirl of wind.

"Sakura-chan." Jiji sighed again, rising from his desk. Sakura immediately looked down at the floor, toeing the soft carpet resentfully. "You know you can't terrify the civilians like that."

"I _do_ know." Sakura snapped before she could stop herself. "But she was being awful!" She looked up at Jiji demandingly, waiting for him to acknowledge her point. He rounded his desk and stared down at her for a moment, soft understanding gone in the place of sternness.

"You are not the civilian, Sakura. We're discussing _your_ actions, not hers."

"But I only did it because of what _she_ did!"

"That may be so," He said slowly, radiating patience, "but two wrongs do not make a right. The way you responded was _wrong_. You _cannot_ treat civilians like that." Jiji insisted sternly. "Shinobi are keepers of the peace within the walls of Konoha, dear."

The endearment does nothing to settle her anger. "Why don't you ever stop them? Why do I have to sit there and take it? They're _wrong_! It's _wrong_ to treat me like they, do but they do it anyways, and I can't defend myself?" She demanded loudly and somewhat shrilly, angry tears stinging her eyes. "Why? Why can't I-"

Jiji suddenly crouching down and pulling her into a hug silences her, and before she can even think to stop it, she starts sobbing into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan." Jiji murmured sadly as he rubbed her back, holding her close.

He didn't say anything else as she cried her heart out into his poor robes.

* * *

"Hello again." The ANBU from before greeted her a week later, his mask pulled up to sit atop his head.

Sakura blinked at him owlishly from where she sat next to the river, waiting for Naruto to get out of detention _again_. This time, he'd stink bombed that horrid woman's house while she and the baby were getting groceries. "Are you allowed to do that?" She asked incredulously after a moment, staring at him. "And what's wrong with your face?"

"You _are_ rude." He noted with a small frown, sitting down in front of her. "Yes, I am. I asked permission - and there's nothing wrong with my face."

"But…?" Sakura trailed off, uncertainly gesturing at her own face where he had lines on his. He arched an eyebrow at her, looking distinctly unimpressed.

"They're called tear troughs." He informed her.

"So, what, you cry a lot?" She asked uncertainly.

For a long moment, he just stared at her with a small frown. She shrunk in on herself a bit, resting her chin on her knees and suddenly unable to meet his gaze. "Sorry." She said apologetically, kicking herself for her awkwardness. "Naruto's the one who talks to people."

"It's not your fault, then." The boy informs her mildly, taking his mask off his head and setting it in his lap. It made her stare at him with renewed suspicion, because he was being _awfully_ nice and understanding. "I imagine if my friend talked as much as Naruto, I wouldn't have much social experience, either."

"You're lucky I'm smarter than him, or I wouldn't understand the way you talk." Sakura warned him with a small frown of her own, gaze darting up to meet his again.

"You're seven, not five." He said dismissively, offering her a hand. "My name is Itachi. I already know yours, but it's good practice." He informed her, keeping his hand out expectantly.

"Why would I practice? No one talks to me, anyways." Sakura said, eyeing his hand distrustfully. It was honestly the first time someone had just… offered her their hand. Usually they were either throwing something at her or handing her something.

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?" Itachi questioned pointedly. She really didn't think that argued against her point, but she didn't want to argue with him when he was actually being _nice_ , so she reluctantly took his hand.

"Hi, I'm Sakura." She offered, not quite able to keep the sarcasm from her tone, but his lip just gave a faint twitch at is as he pulled his hand away.

"Indeed."

Sakura couldn't help it. She looked him dead in the face and in her best imitation of his bland, flat tone, she said, "Quite."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "Indubitably."

Sakura blinked slowly at him, her eyes narrowing. "...You win."

"Get a thesaurus." He suggested kindly.

"Get a _shut up_." She shot back, immediately sweeping on before he could comment on that _dumb_ statement. "Anyway, why are you talking to me?"

"You don't appear to have an overabundance of people who are actually nice to you, Sakura." He said slowly, apparently also deciding to ignore her stupid retort. "I sympathize with that. I don't either. I have my mother and my best friend. I have my father, as well, but we aren't… close. I dislike him, and he's disliking me more and more recently, too." Itachi explained to her solemnly, his expression weirdly serious for someone talking to a seven year old.

Sakura kind of appreciated it, though. She was smarter than anyone else in her class except Sasuke, and maybe Shikamaru but she wasn't really sure about him. Most people still just treated her like a child, though - and those were the ones who were _nice_ and didn't treat her like a monster, instead.

"I have a little brother, too. He's in your class, actually." Itachi added with a soft smile that made him look much younger. It put her a little bit at ease, too - he smiled kind of like Naruto. Not as brilliantly, but just as… nicely. "Sasuke."

"Oh. You're an Uchiha? He's smart, too." Sakura told Itachi, blinking through her surprise. "He's kind of rude, though. Doesn't even talk to Naruto, and _everyone_ talks to Naruto, even the ones who just yell at him."

"Mm. Sasuke's a loner. He's ahead of most in your class, so he doesn't… tolerate the others well." Itachi said delicately and Sakura nodded slowly.

"I like the others, but sometimes they're _slow_. The other day we were practicing kunai training and the three of us, even Naruto, did almost perfectly - but we still have to train next week because the others suck."

"You should try to phrase that nicer." Itachi said mildly, not even scoldingly, and that made her a little more willing to listen. She narrowed her eyes at him, considering for a moment.

"Why?" She demanded at length.

This made his lips twitch again.

* * *

For some reason, she didn't tell Naruto about him. Part of her knew it was because she was jealous and stingy. Naruto had lots of friends, and all she had was him.

Well, him, Jiji, and Iruka, but the adults didn't count.

She _liked_ having a friend all to herself, and part of her wondered if Itachi liked it too, because anytime Naruto was in detention, he'd find her waiting at the riverside and they'd talk until Naruto got out. Jiji didn't say anything about it, but he smiled a little more happily at her when she got back from those afternoons, so she knew he knew.

Besides, Itachi _did_ say he asked permission. She just hadn't quite realized that meant the Hokage, not some… ANBU superior or something.

One of those days, two months after they'd started their occasional meetups, Jiji dropped in on them to both their surprise. He arrived at the riverside just in time to see Sakura fall from halfway up a tree, Itachi standing upside down on a branch high above her with his tanto dangled tauntingly in his hand. "Well." Jiji said slowly, making Sakura freeze between high-pitched giggles and quickly sit up.

"Jiji!" She squealed more excitedly than he'd ever heard her, rushing to him quickly. "Itachi-kun's showing me how to walk up trees. _Walk up trees_ , Jiji!" She explained gleefully, unable to contain herself.

"I see!" He said in surprise, his eyebrows raised as he stared right over her head and to Itachi. Sakura looked over her shoulder to see him dropping from the tree branch, landing nimbly into a crouch.

"She asked me to show her how to use a tanto, Hokage-sama. I told her I wouldn't unless she could walk up trees. She's been figuring it out from there."

"I really want to know how to use a tanto, Jiji." Sakura informed the man, nodding at Itachi's words. "It looks really cool." But walking up trees was turning out to be _way_ harder than she expected, and Itachi's idea of 'helping' was to wave the sheathed sword at her tauntingly.

"Does it?" He asked slowly, his voice strange, and Sakura looked at him weirdly for a moment before nodding.

"Uhuh! And look! I can already _almost_ get up to the branch!" Sakura insisted urgently, rushing to the tree and proceeding to run up as high as she could. She didn't quite get as high as last time, losing traction about two feet from the branch Itachi had been perched on. She flipped quickly as she fell, landing awkwardly on her feet, and then she turned to Jiji and threw her arms out joyfully. "See? I'm doing good, aren't I? Itachi-kun said I'm doing good." She added the last part with a nod.

"Yes. Yes, Sakura-chan, you really are." Jiji said, his voice still strange, but after a moment, he smiled warmly at her and approached the tree. "Well then. Continue practicing, dear." He encouraged, sitting down at the base of the nearest tree and pulling his pipe out. For a second, Itachi just stared at him, clearly surprised though it didn't show on his face. Then he finally jumped up onto the tree branch again, gesturing his tanto tauntingly at her, and Sakura threw herself back at the tree with a grin.

Neither Itachi nor Jiji gave her any tips on how to do it better, but both of them encouraged (Jiji) or mocked (Itachi) her until she finally, an hour later, managed to snatch the tanto from Itachi's hands. She landed on the ground with a wicked grin, bouncing happily on the balls of her feet, and Jiji stood up with a grin.

"Very good, Sakura-chan. You're going to make an excellent shinobi." He praised her, and when Itachi landed on the ground beside her, still waving the tanto and cheering, he snapped a picture and tucked it away before they could react.

For a moment they both frowned at Jiji, who responded with a slightly wider eyed look of pure innocence. Itachi finally cleared his throat and arched an eyebrow at Sakura. "Now let's see if you can strike me with it. _Sheathe on_ ," He added sharply.

"But I haven't even gotten to look at it yet!" Sakura whined, trying out Jiji's innocent look.

Itachi snorted. "Begin." He said before leaping away from her. Belatedly, she chased after, swinging the heavy sheathed weapon as she went.

* * *

"Detention _sucks_." Naruto whined at her at lunch, after having been just informed he had _another_ afternoon of it.

"You should stop getting caught." Sakura advised sagely, nibbling on a stick of dango. Jiji had surprised them with one in each of their lunches and they were both glad for it, enjoying the rare treat. For someone so old, he sure did care a lot about ' _healthy diets'_. He probably didn't even _have_ any more original teeth, so he didn't have room to talk, Sakura and Naruto had decided.

"It's not my _fault_." Naruto claimed, waving his stick wildly. "ANBU-san always manages to catch me. No one _else_ does."

"Well they're _ANBU_." Sakura pointed out, pausing when Naruto was briefly distracted by Chouji passing by. He waved enthusiastically at the boy, Sakura belatedly waving a little as well, and the chubby Akimichi grinned at them before hurrying the rest of the way to Shikamaru. She was kind of jealous of the Nara and the way he could just lay down wherever he wanted and get to sleep.

If _she_ tried that, the villagers would use it to throw stuff at her.

Which killed her good mood. Sakura nibbled on the end of her dango stick, fighting to urge to bite down _hard_. "You're being scary again." Naruto warned her and she paused, realizing she'd been glaring daggers at Shikamaru's back.

"Oops." She pulled the stick away, looking around to see if anyone saw. If they did, no one was looking at her _now_ , so she shrugged and looked at Naruto again. "Sorry. I was thinking."

"Did Shika piss you off?"

" _Language_." Sakura scolded. She was mostly imitating Jiji's latest assistant, a high-pitched kunoichi chuunin, but she was half-serious too. Enough that Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Anyways, no, I was just thinking. What does Iruka-sensei even have you _do_ in detention?"

"Stare at stuff and stick leaves to my face." Naruto muttered grouchily. Sakura couldn't help but reach out to sympathetically pat his slumped shoulders.

"Next time tell him I was in on it and I'll keep you company."

"Really?" Naruto asked, brightening instantly, and Sakura grinned.

"Sure! I like trying to break my new leaf sticking record anyways." She said brightly and he huffed, sulking again, but she could tell it was exaggerated.

"You're so much better at it than I am." He whined.

"That's cause I'm older than you." Sakura informed him smugly, making him snort. "Respect your elders, otouto." Sakura teased.

She jumped away quickly, his arms closing around empty air, and she landing a few feet away to laugh at him. Only for it to quickly become a gleeful shriek when he launched himself after her.

* * *

Her eighth birthday was spent with Jiji, Naruto, and Iruka-sensei at the Sarutobi Manor. She gleefully opened their gifts after dinner, adoring the little cherry blossom earrings Naruto had gotten her. Iruka-sensei got her an academy level book on taijutsu, her weakest subject, and while it wasn't something she enjoyed much, she definitely appreciated the intention. She _did_ need help in taijutsu. Jiji got her a book, too, with basic instructions on how to make low level exploding tags and smoke tags.

She accepted it with a beaming smile, genuinely intrigued as she glanced at the first page. "Thanks, Jiji! This is great!" She said happily, flicking through the next couple pages. There was a section on low-yield sealing scrolls, too, though it looked more like theory than practical knowledge.

"Aw, why does she get to learn new jutsus?" Naruto pouted, looking at the book over her shoulder.

Jiji, who had been watching her with a warm smile, immediately looked at Naruto. "Do you _want_ to learn basic fuinjutsu? It's very useful, you know." He offered, intrigued.

Naruto instantly made a face and Sakura couldn't help but roll her eyes lightly at him. "Erm. Not really, Jiji. But I want to learn _cool_ jutsus!"

Jiji's smile became almost sad before he launched into a lecture. "Now, Naruto-chan, fuinjutsu is _incredibly_ useful and 'cool', as you say." Naruto dutifully pretended to listen as Jiji went on and Sakura blocked them both out, scanning through the instructions on how to make and use smoke tags.

Eventually, though, it was time for _cake_ , which was _awesome_ , and Sakura blew out the candles along with a small prayer. _Please, Kami, let me make more friends like these._

But in the end, it was two days later when Naruto _already_ got into another detention that she got her _best_ present. "Happy birthday, Kura-chan." Itachi said warmly as he offered her her _very own tanto_ , wrapped with a pink bow over the red hilt and _everything_.

Sakura took it with a beaming grin and hugged the startled boy, leaning away and bouncing on her heels a moment later. "Teach me, Itachi-senpai!" She demanded, waving the _real, metal, stabby tanto_ at him with a grin.

Itachi watched her movements with a bemused frown. "...First, we'll teach you some basic safety."

* * *

It didn't last. At just eight years old, Sakura was starting to realize nothing good in her life ever did. Except Naruto and Jiji, of course. Itachi had taught her the basics on how to use her new tanto, but only four months later, he stopped showing up on days Naruto had detention.

In the end, she never saw him again.

"I don't understand." Sakura told Jiji slowly as she stood in his office, early in the morning. An ANBU had snagged her and left poor Naruto heading to the Academy; alone and very confused about that.

"Itachi betrayed us." Jiji said gently and Sakura shook her head.

"No, Itachi-senpai was… Itachi-senpai's nice. He wouldn't." She argued fiercely, her chest aching.

"I'm so sorry, Sakura." Jiji sympathized, grabbing her shoulder to probably hug her. She didn't know because she wrenched free and stepped away from him, shaking her head.

"No! He was _nice_ to me!" She snarled at him. Jiji's eyes widened. "You're _lying_!" She shrieked, suddenly feeling far too hot in the stifling office. She turned to run for the door, but something slammed into the side of her neck, and she hit the ground.

When she got back up, she was in a sewer. "What?" She demanded into the echoing, wet space, blinking in confusion. She still felt too warm, but the unnerving heat was gone in the face of her sudden uncertainty, and she cautiously made her way down the sewer. Where had Jiji and his office gone? "Where am I?" Sakura asked quietly, her voice still echoing anyways, and she paused when she stepped out of the tunnel and into a big, huge space. She couldn't see a ceiling, but she could see _big_ bars several feet away. Like a _huge_ yard gate or something.

" **You're inside the seal, little girl."** A deep voice _really_ echoed through the room, making Sakura flinch back a bit.

"Seal?" She asked shakily, and the voice laughed.

" **Didn't they tell you anything? Didn't they tell you why you're a** _ **monster**_ **?** " The voice asked with a soft, growling purr that made every inch of her scream to turn tail and run. So she did the smart thing and did just that, bolting back into the sewer tunnel. " **Run all you like."** The voice chuckled. " **But they trapped you with me a** _ **long**_ **time ago."**

She didn't know what he meant. She didn't know who he was, or who _they_ were, but she ignored it for the moment, focusing on running as far away as fast as she could. The tunnel was starting to disappear, becoming darker and darker. " **You'll always be a monster."** The voice purred.

She woke up in Jiji's arms, shaking and crying already.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" Jiji asked gently and she curled into him, sobbing into his chest.

She never saw the hardness in his eyes, or the set line of his jaw. She never knew how unnerved he was to have felt that chakra again after so long.

* * *

They weren't allowed out of the house.

 _She_ wasn't allowed out, and Naruto stuck by her like a shadow. The news of the Massacre had become widespread and Jiji was concerned that if someone had seen her and Itachi together, they'd hurt her for being his friend. She didn't care, but Jiji did, so she was stuck there. It bothered her, but what bothered her much more was the unknown voice in that strange sewer place.

She hadn't spoken to Jiji about it, or Naruto, who still didn't even know about Itachi. Now Sakura was _never_ telling him, because she was _never_ going to talk to _anyone_ about Itachi ever again. She hated him.

It hurt more than anything she'd ever felt before. He'd been her friend. He was the first one to ever try to befriend her. Naruto was her closest friend, but he was that because they spent their infancy thinking they were siblings. They were alone, together, with only one another so of _course_ they were best friends.

But more unnerving, and less hurtful so she focused on it instead of Itachi, had been that voice. She hadn't heard it again, but she definitely hadn't forgotten what it said. About a seal and her being trapped, and more importantly, about _they_.

It made her wonder. Who was 'they'? It made her anxious, and it made her wonder if Jiji was keeping secrets from her. He always got upset with her when she growled at people, and they always reacted so _strongly_ …

Was she a monster?

The thought made her feel sick to her stomach, and she pushed herself to her feet abruptly, making Naruto look up at her in confusion. "I'm going to bed." She said quietly, turning before he could think to argue.

"O-okay." Naruto said uncertainly as she left the living room and Sakura felt a little bad at that.

A little, because mostly she was still feeling sick and anxious.

Was she a monster?

Sakura slid into her room, closing the door behind her and climbing quietly onto her bed. She didn't feel like getting back up to change clothes, so she curled up on top of the sheets and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I'm not a monster." She whispered to herself, but she wasn't sure what it said about her that her only non-family friend was a monster, himself.

It was with that troubling thought that she finally drifted off, tears clinging to her eyelids but not quite escaping.

She woke up when cold air blew through her window. Something shifted at the same moment she realized she'd had the window closed (of course she had, it was autumn), and alarm had her rolling over just in time for a sword to bury itself in her chest. She stared up with wide, horrified eyes, barely comprehending it. It would have hit her heart if she hadn't moved when she did, but instead went straight through her ribcage an entire inch left of the vital organ.

She didn't feel any pain, even as she abruptly flung herself from the bed. The sword tore its way out of her, still in the hands of it's master, and blood gushed down her chest. Sakura hit the ground hard and loud, the air knocked out of her with a breathless cry, and she rolled quickly onto her back to see her attacker. It was a male shinobi, only a teenager, with a dark expression. He wore no hitai-ate, but he was dressed like a member of ANBU - a uniform she was _very_ familiar with. "Why?" Sakura had choked out, confused and shocked.

Jiji was her _friend_. Her _sofu_ , though she was too nervous to call him that aloud. He was the only one other than Naruto to have never treated her with anything but kindness. She couldn't believe he would have ordered her death, but why else would ANBU be… be _stabbing_ her?

"Because you're unstable, demon." The man had spat venomously, lifting his sword in preparation to stab down at her again.

The words hit her like a kick in the gut, setting off something dark and _furious_ in her. _Demon. Monster_. She was just a child, she'd never done _anything_ to deserve such harsh words. To be bullied, to be beaten, to be spat on and looked on with _disgust_. To be _murdered_? Sakura had never done _anything!_

Rage _burned_ through her.

The world burned with her in a red mist. " _ **Yes. Kill the one who hurts you,"**_ a distant part of her heard and obeyed.

When the fury finally dissipated, Sakura was slamming her fist repeatedly into the bloody, burned corpse of the once-shinobi, blood _covering_ her as it sprayed and sprayed and sprayed…

" _ **Good girl."**_ It purred, satisfied and proud.

She didn't realize she was screaming until Naruto burst into the room, looking harried. He immediately froze, and so did she, looking up at him with wide eyes from where she straddled the body. His gaze darted over her, over the corpse, and then back to her, face rapidly paling. He looked sick suddenly, even as he swallowed thickly and entered the room, slowly and hesitantly, and crouched down beside her.

"Are you okay? Your chest…" Naruto whispered the words for some reason, and his hand trembled as he reached for her left side. Sakura followed his gaze to the blood soaking her chest.

It took her a moment to comprehend what she was seeing and feeling, and it snapped her out of the stunned state she'd been in. "He stabbed me." Sakura said, her voice little more than a croak. But the wound was gone, leaving only the blood behind, and she couldn't even tell where _her_ blood stopped and his blood started. There was so _much of it._

The despair in her voice was enough to make Naruto freeze. "It's gone, but he… he stabbed me. Because I'm a monster." Sakura whispered hoarsely, gaze dragging from Naruto's face down to the mutilated body beneath her. It took a minute for realization to sink it, and horrified desperation gripped Sakura. She tore her gaze away, looking back at Naruto pleadingly. "I'm not a monster." She said weakly, begging him to understand. "I'm not a monster." Her voice broke, tears blurring her vision, and Naruto reached up to put his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not a monster." Sakura repeated urgently, seizing his biceps. "I'm not, Naruto, I'm not, please tell me that I'm not." Sakura sobbed desperately.

Because looking at the corpse before them, it was suddenly very difficult for her to believe it.

When Jiji arrived less than a minute later, he'd silently swept the hysterical girl and the traumatized boy up into his arms and took them away. Sakura watched over his shoulder as ANBU - _real_ ANBU, with _real_ headbands, so what did that make that unrecognizable red puddle on the floor? - rushed into the room and surrounded the mess.

" _ **You**_ **are** _**a monster, little Sakura."**_ The voice purred, dark and somehow… somehow comforting, in a horrible numbing kind of way. " _ **But that's okay. It means no one will hurt you ever again."**_

Sakura buried her face into Jiji's shoulder and let the promise numb her cold body.

They retreated to Jiji's office, where he gently lay her down on one of his sofas and lifted Naruto up beside her. The blonde boy tensed, but his hand still reached out to clutch hers, and Sakura tried to squeeze it back a little. She wasn't sure if it helped, and she wasn't sure if she cared at the moment. Everything was…

Everything was blood. It had _sprayed_ …

"I didn't do this, Sakura. He wasn't under my orders." Jiji said grimly. She couldn't bring herself to lift her head to meet his gaze. Instead, she slid sideways to rest her head on Naruto's stiff shoulder, desperately praying.

"I'm not a monster." She whispered hoarsely, but the voice from before echoed in her head, and she started to wonder.

 _Would it really be so bad?_

* * *

Naruto distanced himself from her. Not physically, of course, because they lived together - but emotionally. It took time for him to start relaxing around her again, but she never quite did the same.

She couldn't control her anger. Something broke inside her head that day, and she just couldn't _fix it_. So she hid it instead, tucking it away past a mask. Naruto made it easier.

He always had a way of making everything easier.

She never let him see that anger anymore, wrestling with it until the worst he ever spotted was irritation, and for a long time, even that was enough to make him flinch. It made her feel awful, and she strove to keep the anger away. After all, if Naruto thought it was so wrong, it had to be. She couldn't trust herself.

She _definitely_ couldn't trust the voice in her head, that had suddenly started coming without provocation since _that night_.

Jiji had tried to explain it to her, two nights after it happened. She'd been laying in Naruto's bed, curled on her side with Naruto lying on his back beside her. "The Uchiha's funeral was happening the morning after your attack." He'd explained grimly. "He was one of my ANBU assigned to you and had seen you with Uchiha-san at some point." He said quietly, grimacing at the way she flinched, ever so slightly, at the mention of Itachi. At least he was vague enough for Naruto to not realize they'd been _friends_. "His best friend was an Uchiha. He couldn't hurt Itachi, so he targeted you instead."

"This was a failure on my part, Sakura." Jiji had said softly, unusually so. "I'm meant to protect you, and I failed to do that. My own trusted soldier turned against us, and you have suffered most for it."

She hadn't responded.

It took weeks for her to be able to speak to him again, and a full year for her to start to trust him again - but she didn't need to. She had Naruto, who stood by her faithfully even when she frightened him, who comforted her after her nightmares even though she was the cause of _his_ nightmares. He was the only one who was with her, no matter what obstacle.

He was the only one she needed and _trusted_.

" _ **One day, you will trust me too, little one."**_ The voice promised and Sakura shrunk against Naruto, shivering a little.

Even after a year, she still hadn't gone back to her own bed. Jiji had offered to move her to another room, and she'd denied it after a quiet conversation with Naruto. She couldn't do it yet. She couldn't be alone, and Naruto...

 _No._ She decided, squeezing her eyes shut as if that would stop the voice. _Naruto is all I need._

" _ **You need me, too. You're just too naive to realize it yet.**_ "

She pressed her hands to her ears.

" _ **So young. So, so stupid."**_ The voice said almost chidingly and Sakura grimaced softly. " _ **You should know by now. You'll never be able to make me go away, little one. You've already let far too much of me out."**_ The voice purred in that horrible way it did, sending chills down her spine and a whimper from her throat.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked sleepily, his arm draping over her shoulder. "You okay?"

"It's nothing, Naruto. Go back to sleep." Sakura said softly, her voice perfectly steady. Naruto hummed a little, wiggling a bit into his pillow before proceeding to do just that.

" _ **You can never put me back in there now."**_ The voice promised idly.

For some reason, her stomach burns.


	3. Chapter 3: Sasuke Sucks

**Hello again everyone! I have to say, I'm seriously touched by the reviews I've been reading. It's very inspiring to hear so many opinions, even the occasional criticism (which I've taken in mind while writing the next chapter). I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last one. It's less rushed, as you'll see, since that one was mostly just to provide backstory. Now we're onto the real story!**

 **Or, at least, onto some character development =P**

 **I'm going to tentatively aim for an update weekly or bimonthly, but no promises. Much as I love writing and as much as I've already dedicated to this story (soo much scattered content written already), it's definitely not my priority - that's dedicated to my much beloved family.**

 **(And my much less beloved college classes.)**

 **I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Sasuke Sucks

She couldn't _stand_ Sasuke. He wasn't so bad at first, but after the Massacre, she couldn't look at him without thinking of _him_. It really didn't help that he was an _ass_ to Naruto, for no real reason. All her brother did was try to befriend him, and yeah, maybe he had tried a little too soon after the Massacre, but he'd tried to make amends for his bad timing and the little Uchiha had rebuffed him.

Brutally.

With _taijutsu_.

 _In front of everyone_.

Sakura had made it her personal goal after that to steal his place as Rookie of the Year, and after six months, was doing it successfully. Ino _loathed_ her after that, but Sakura was too smug to care, even if it made Sasuke only act like even more of an asshole. He still beat her in taijutsu, anyways.

After that, it became a constant battle of tug of war between the two of them. The title passed back and forth so frequently that Iruka-sensei just stopped telling them when one of them won it back. It made it harder to be as competitive, but Sakura did her best anyways. And if her skin felt like it was on fire every time she sparred with him, who needed to know, anyways?

 _ **Go for the throat.**_ The voice urged her one match.

 _ **Hit the kidney hard enough and you'll puncture it. Try.**_ It suggested another time.

 _ **Solar plexus. Then knee his nose into his brain.**_

Every time she ignored it's urging for unnecessary violence.

Sometimes, she agreed with it so strongly she almost gave in, but Naruto… Naruto she could trust, and if Naruto looked a little bit horrified every time she hit too hard, then it meant she was doing something wrong. Even if she was hitting Sasuke, who definitely deserved it. So she wouldn't do it again, and when he cheered her on, she knew she was doing right, even if the voice said otherwise.

 _ **You should listen to me, little girl. One day you'll regret not doing so.**_ The voice warned her.

She ignored that, too.

Soon enough, they were eleven - Naruto's birthday almost seven months after her - and Jiji started training them again. Mainly training Naruto, whose chakra control was _awful_. Jiji instructed him every afternoon on how to do the three jutsus to pass the graduation exams, only for him to consistently fail at performing the clone jutsu. _Horribly_ failing, too.

"I don't get it." Sakura complained to Jiji after one particularly long session. "Naruto's got everything down but the amount of chakra. What's going wrong?"

"I suspect Naruto has too much chakra for him to have a good grasp on." Jiji said contemplatively, watching Naruto's clone sag to the floor like a limp noodle.

"But… Then should he be doing something else? Like the leaf sticking practice?"

"Mm. No. He's able to do that easily, practicing that won't help." Jiji puffed thoughtfully at his pipe, pausing only when Naruto let out a vicious curse and stomped on his useless clone puddle. "Naruto! Watch your language!" Jiji barked out sharply, making Naruto jump like he'd been shocked.

"Sorry, Jiji! I just got frustrated." He called back, pouting at the end, and Sakura grinned a little at the face.

"Hm. Well, then. Let's teach him something new, shall we? Naruto, come with me." Jiji instructed and Sakura watched in dawning realization as he headed for a nearby tree. "Sakura, you already understand the basics, so I'd like you to practice applying the same understanding to walking on water. Use the koi pond and try not to kill any fish." Jiji said somewhat distractedly, focusing on Naruto, and Sakura blinked at him, a little perturbed.

She wasn't sure if she should be touched or offended that he didn't even give her the time to show her the technique himself. After a long moment of staring at his back, she decided to be touched that he had such faith in her and trudged over to the koi pond in question.

Not killing the fish turned out to be pretty easy, because the koi pond was so deep that every time she fell in, her head went under and the fish had plenty of time to dart away. " _ **Pathetic."**_ The voice noted disgustedly after the fourth attempt, and it only made her more determined.

It was _stupidly_ difficult, she decided after three hours. "I hate you, Jiji." She complained just as Naruto's foot once more broke through the tree's bark - this time a whole ten feet up it - and plummeted to the ground.

"I agree." Naruto whined as he picked himself up.

Jiji, of course, just chuckled around his pipe. "You'll rethink that position when you get your hitai-ates, children." He said, then paused and looked up at the sky. "Speaking of children, Konohamaru-chan will be here shortly for dinner. Will you two join us?"

"No!" Naruto and Sakura called as one, both focusing on their newest challenge instead.

"Then I'll see you both in the morning." Jiji said around another chuckle, no doubt correctly guessing they'd train all night long.

And all night long, they did.

Sakura had almost gotten the new technique down by morning, but Naruto still was only getting about halfway up the tree, so she dedicated the last three hours before they had to go to Academy to sitting high up above him and shouting encouragements.

Jiji paused on his way to the Hokage Tower to step out back and eye Naruto as he ran up the tree towards Sakura. "You're doing very well, Naruto. I'm impressed." He said after a moment, nodding once and leaving.

It didn't seem like much, but to Naruto, it was everything, and he charged up the tree with renewed vigor.

He _almost_ reached Sakura's foot, and she wiggled her toes at him as he tumbled down. "So close!" She shouted down at him teasingly, grinning at his pained groan of a response. She ignored how similar she was behaving to how Itachi had when _she_ was in Naruto's place.

It took two days for them to get it, and three days for them to be able to consistently do it. Jiji celebrated with a triple chocolate cake that had both Naruto and Sakura grinning, then escorted them out back again. "Try it again, Naruto, and remember - use _less_ chakra than before." Jiji instructed, and Naruto complied.

Sakura whooped loudly when a perfectly formed clone appeared beside him. "You did it!" She cheered, bouncing on her heels and grinning. He looked stunned for a moment before grinning widely, nodding.

After a moment, though, his grin fell away and he started to look worried. "I did, but… it's really difficult. Is it really going to be _useful_?" He asked uncertainly and Jiji responded before Sakura could.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Regardless, watching you struggle with this gave me an idea. You and Sakura both have incredibly large chakra reserves for how young you are. Sakura, however, has an innately magnificent control that you don't have - which is in no way your fault, Naruto." Jiji added the last part hastily at Naruto's crumbling expression. "But it means you'll struggle more. Chakra control is difficult to train, and Sakura's blessed in that it comes very easily to her. With this in mind, I've come up with an idea." Jiji frowned softly, falling silent for a long moment before looking at Naruto sternly.

"When you pass your graduation exams and receive your hitai-ate, I'll give you a scroll that will teach you a very powerful variation of the clone jutsu. It requires _far_ more chakra than your average clone, which makes it ideal for your use."

"Really, Jiji?" Naruto asked eagerly, his eyes flying wide.

"Really." Jiji confirmed with a soft smile that grew when Naruto let out a cheer. "As for you, my dear girl," Jiji added, turning to Sakura while Naruto continued hopping and cheering like an over exuberant maniac, "I will introduce you to someone who will teach you to use your tanto, if you're interested."

For a moment, she hesitated. _Itachi_ had given her that tanto and since his… crime… she'd left it tucked in a box under her bed. But on the other hand, she'd really liked using it. She chewed her lip before slowly nodding. "Can I think about it?" She asked warily. "I think I would, but…"

"I understand." Jiji assured her with a warm smile. "Let me know the week before your exams, hm?"

"Yes, Jiji." Sakura promised, smiling back at him. He ruffled her hair and she pretended to be bothered by it.

* * *

When Sakura came out of the examination room with a hitai-ate in her hand, Naruto had leapt up and hugged her with a beaming grin, even though they were surrounding by other graduates. "You did it!" Sakura greeted him with a grin of her own, relieved to see the hitai-ate he, too, had in his hand.

"You should've seen the look on Iruka-sensei's face when I made the clone!" Naruto cackled shamelessly. "Mizuki-sensei was about to call a medic."

"Oh, Naruto, that's awesome!" Sakura grinned at him, lifting her own hitai-ate up for his examination.

"How're you gonna wear it, Sakura-chan? I'm doing it around my forehead, of course!" Naruto decided aloud, already lifting it up to fasten it in place.

"I haven't decided yet." Sakura said with a shrug, scanning over the graduates in the room. Almost all of them had passed, from the looks of it. She was the last one to test, right behind Naruto, thanks to the fact that their last name started it 'Uz'. Sasuke, the only other 'U' name, was leaning against the wall next to the exit, hitai-ate already on his forehead, with his eyes closed as he ignored everyone.

Ino, the world's most annoying blonde (Definitely not Naruto, though that was the common assumption) was sitting beside him, smiling adoringly at the boy ignoring her. It was pathetic, and Sakura looked away with a small grimace.

"Con- congratulations, U-uzumaki-san. Uzumaki-san." Hinata Hyuuga said to Naruto and her with a small, tremulous smile. Naruto beamed brightly at her while Sakura's gaze was drawn to the hitai-ate around her neck.

That was an interesting idea, but Sakura didn't like the thought of someone being able to choke her with her own hitai-ate. That would be a terribly embarrassing way to die, really. Shikamaru Nara was in the process of tying his around his bicep, which was a _way_ better idea, and one she decided to consider. Ino…

Ino, Sakura was horrified to realize, had the idea she liked best. Hers was fastened around her hips like a belt, and Sakura _liked it_.

 _Uhg._

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Iruka called as he stepped out of the exam room, immediately cutting Naruto off mid-babble at Hinata. They all turned to him expectantly and he looked them over with a small frown. "You're all to report back here tomorrow, in the usual classroom, at nine AM to receive your team assignments."

And Sakura had a sudden, horrifying thought that had her seizing Naruto's hand tightly. He looked at her sharply in concern, but Sakura just bit her lip, listening to Iruka.

"After your assignments, you'll spend the afternoon with your new sensei, so inform your parents that you may not be home until night. And congratulations, all of you." Iruka concluded warmly, smiling at the group. "Go on and head out."

No one had to be told twice. The group rushed out of the academy, many of them having parents waiting nearby. Sakura pulled Naruto along by his hand, the blonde following along without protest. "Congratulations, son." Sakura heard a man say to Shikamaru as they passed, who grunted in reply. "And Ino-chan, too!"

Sakura and Naruto were out of earshot before the annoying blonde girl could respond. "What if we're assigned to different teams?" Sakura whispered anxiously to Naruto, whose eyes widened.

"No! They wouldn't!" He cried, appalled. "I mean, would they?" Naruto asked uncertainly. "No, that would be dumb. We work great together!" Sakura nodded her agreement, but she wasn't convinced. "We'll talk to Jiji. Tell him he _can't_ separate us."

"You can't tell the Hokage what to do." Sakura argued, but she'd relaxed a bit at his confidence.

"Psh. Jiji listens to us. Jiji _loooves_ us." Naruto sang obnoxiously and Sakura reluctantly smiled a bit. "Ah! A smile! Naruto wins again!" Naruto threw his arms - and her arm he was still holding - up in the air in a ridiculous cheer.

 _If they do separate us,_ Sakura thought as she watched him with a soft smile, _then I'll quit as a shinobi._

 _ **So pathetically clingy.**_ The voice said in an almost disappointed tone.

Sakura didn't let her smile falter as Naruto suddenly took the lead, pulling her off towards home.

 _ **You'll never get strong like that. You should really listen to me instead.**_ The voice suggested mildly. _**If you did, you'd never have to worry about being hurt ever again.**_

It was an appealing promise, Sakura had to admit, but as she listened to Naruto chatter on about Iruka-sensei's reaction to him passing…

She simply couldn't imagine distancing herself from her brother.

* * *

"Congratulations." Jiji greeted them warmly as he walked into the living room a few hours later. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for your graduation. There was an incident." He said in sincere apology that Naruto immediately waved off.

"It's fine, Jiji, we figured. Look!" He threw a hand up to wiggle the hitai-ate around his forehead, grinning brightly.

"I see." Jiji said with a hint of amusement. "As I said, congratulations. Now. I have arranged the gifts I promised you, but first, I wish to discuss something with the both of you." Jiji explained, gesturing to the sofa across the coffee table from him. Naruto didn't hesitate to throw himself onto the sofa and Sakura followed at a more sedate pace, momentarily anxious at the mention of her gift. She'd taken up his offer for kenjutsu lessons, but it still made her nervous to think about.

"Jiji? First, can I ask about how teams are set up?" She asked quietly and Jiji looked at her with a warm smile.

"I can guess what you're worried about. I'm not supposed to tell you this, so keep it between us - but don't worry. You and Naruto are on the same team."

"Really?!" Naruto squealed as Sakura relaxed, slumping her shoulders a bit in relief.

"I was worried for a moment." She admitted freely and Jiji's smile softened.

"Yes, really. The teams are designed to balance one another's strengths, and while you and Naruto and both better at close fighting, we can all agree that Naruto has great potential to become a jutsu specialist. You are, regardless, one another's greatest strength, so it would have been a bad idea to separate you two." Jiji explained, holding up a hand before either of them could ask anything else. "Now, we can talk more about this later, but for now, I wish to discuss something with you both." He said, his voice and expression becoming unusually serious.

Sakura straightened immediately and Naruto leaned in a bit in concern. "Is something wrong, Jiji?"

"Not exactly. This is just a… difficult conversation." Jiji said slowly, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees. "It's something the Council and I have debated at length, and we've decided it would be best to give you information that has to do with you both. I can't stress enough that this is a secret, Sakura, Naruto. It's an S-Rank secret, in fact, and you both must swear to me you will not share it without consulting me first."

For a moment, Sakura and Naruto both just stared at him, shocked by his words. An _S-Rank_ secret?

 _ **Well.**_ The voice mused softly, making Sakura twitch in surprise. She reached out to take Naruto's hand, hoping the movement concealed the twitch. _**Isn't this a surprise.**_

"Okay, Jiji." Naruto said slowly, letting Sakura cling to his hand. "We swear."

"Good." Jiji nodded once, clearing his throat. "This is a bit of a long story, but both of you must listen. There was once, not very long ago, another hidden village that is rarely spoken about in your Academy teachings. It's not for lack of care, or because it's secret, but because it's very painful to speak of." Jiji began slowly, making a vague gesture to the swirls on Naruto's orange jumpsuit. "That, in fact, was their symbol."

"Uh. Why's it on my jumpsuit?" Naruto asked, blinking owlishly, and Sakura hissed at him, making him jump.

"He said _listen_. Jeez, Naruto, not even a minute!" Sakura scolded and he blushed.

"Yes. Well." Jiji interrupted pointedly, making her blush a bit too. "That symbol is on all of our standard shinobi clothing, including the Chuunin flak jackets. This is because Konoha used to be longstanding allies with the hidden village, known as Uzushio. The reason I'm telling you about this is because you two are the last surviving members of Uzushio's strongest clan in Konoha. The Uzumaki clan, you may have guessed."

"I-" Sakura cut herself off immediately, frowning at Jiji, who frowned slightly back at her.

"I understand you'll have questions but please, let me finish my story first. Now, Uzushio was always a very close ally to Konoha, as I said - but it also housed the powerful Uzumaki clan. The Uzumaki's had no kekkei genkai to speak of, but they were known for their incredible resilience to illness, their longevity, and their chakra. They almost always had very large chakra reserves. Rarely, though, they also had a very special type of chakra. Sakura, you have a diluted variation of that, and Naruto, your chakra is rather ordinary. Both of you, however, have the chakra reserves."

Jiji paused for a moment, tapping his fingertips against the opposite hand's knuckles. "Now, you are not blood siblings, as you know by now. But your father, Sakura, was Uzumaki, and your mother, Naruto, was as well. Both of you are half-Uzumaki, and both of you are extremely gifted, even if you're slightly less obvious about it, Naruto. It's simply that your chakra control isn't as refined as Sakura's - but that will make you even more dangerous in the future, when you've increased your arsenal."

"However, back to the point - thirty-two years ago, Uzushio fought alongside us in the Second Shinobi War. They were known, the Uzumaki's in particular, for their incredible feats with fuinjutsu. It grew to the point that Kirigakure destroyed the village to stop them. They almost entirely wiped out it's inhabitants, and the few survivors scattered." Jiji paused for another long minute, staring at his hands before looking back up at them. "Your parents were survivors, among others who have since passed on."

"Uzushio's history is a brilliant one, one that should never die, and if you are interested, I would be honored to teach you everything I know so that you might let their legacy live on through you."

"I think I would be interested." Sakura said quietly after a short moment of thought. "But I don't know enough to say that for sure."

"Well if Sakura-chan does it, then me too." Naruto said with a firm nod that Jiji smiled slightly at.

The smile vanished almost immediately. "Now, Uzushio directly ties into the S-Rank secret I'm about to share with you. Originally, the Council planned for you to not be told of this until you were already well trained shinobi, but the seal has weakened faster than expected." The word 'seal' had Sakura sitting straight up again, eyes narrowed in thought. "I mentioned that Uzumaki's were occasionally gifted with a special type of chakra. There have been two such Uzumaki's who've lived in Konoha with that chakra type. The first was Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's wife."

"Whoa." Naruto blinked at Jiji. "How come we've never heard of her?"

"Because, Naruto. She's part of the S-Rank secret." Jiji explained solemnly enough that Naruto's excitement bled away, replaced by the same trepidation Sakura was feeling. "Uzumaki Mito was the reason that Hashirama-sama won in his legendary fight against Uchiha Madara. You recall that Madara attacked Hashirama-sama using the Nine-Tailed Fox itself?"

"Yeah." Naruto confirmed as Sakura nodded. The voice in her head was growling, and it made her uneasy.

"When Hashirama-sama was finally able to bind the Kyuubi, Mito-sama used the Uzumaki's legendary sealing jutsus to seal him inside her own body. She became the first of what are now known as Jinchuuriki."

"Jinchuuriki?" Sakura echoed questioningly and Jiji nodded.

"Indeed. Jinchuuriki are normal people who, through the use of fuinjutsu, have one of the nine bijuu sealed within them. In Mito-sama's case, she was the very first Jinchuuriki ever, and the very first one for the Kyuubi. Mito-sama lived for a very long time, as well, only finally passing on just over twenty years ago. Keep in mind, she was an adult when Konoha was founded."

" _What!_ " Naruto shrieked and Jiji chuckled a bit.

"Oh, yes. Living proof, you see, of Uzumaki's legendary longevity. She far outlived Hashirama. But she knew that one day she would pass on and that when she did, the Kyuubi sealed inside her would be unleashed once more. So she planned, and she waited, and one day, a girl was born in Uzushio who was also blessed with Mito-sama's special chakra. Her name was Kushina, Naruto-chan, and she was your mother." Jiji said that bit gently.

For a moment, Naruto could just stare at him, his eyes wide. Sakura bit her lip, squeezing his hand, and he smile tremulously. "Can you… can you tell me about her?" He asked, so hopeful that it made her chest hurt.

"Of course. Perhaps… Perhaps I should have done so much sooner." Jiji said solemnly. "I cannot tell you about your father. Not yet. That is another S-Rank secret, and one that's far too dangerous for you to know yet." Jiji paused for a second, reading the mutiny in Naruto and Sakura's faces. "When you are Chuunin. Then, I will tell you."

"Gah." Naruto huffed in defeat. "But you'll tell me about… about mom?" His voice shook unsurely on the new word and Jiji's expression softened as he nodded.

"Yes, but first, the S-Rank secret. Your mother, Kushina, became the second Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi. She was a young teen, only a little older than you are now, when Mito-sama died and the Kyuubi was sealed in her." Jiji explained, falling silent again. He stared at his hands once more, this time for several tense minutes, and when he finally looked up at a nervous Sakura and Naruto once more, his eyes were pained. "Shortly after she gave birth to you, Naruto, the seal broke. We don't know why, or how, but the seal shattered and the Kyuubi broke free."

Naruto let out a soft, pained sound, gripping Sakura's hand a tiny bit harder, but he didn't interrupt. "The Kyuubi attacked Konoha, as you well know, and the Fourth Hokage stopped it's assault. But what you don't know is that, contrary to popular rumor, the Fourth didn't kill the bijuu. It's not possible to kill one - or rather, even if you did, it would reform in a number of years. They're beings of chakra, nothing more." Jiji sighed heavily. "Instead, he sealed it in a young infant, in the hopes that her particularly strong chakra control would help her keep the demon at bay."

Sakura felt the blood drain from her face, and the voice in her head laughed darkly. "This changes nothing, Sakura." Jiji said firmly, drawing himself up. "But you are the current Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

 _ **Surprise.**_

Silence filled the room for several seconds as Jiji and Naruto both stared at her, one firmly and the other in shock. "But Sakura-chan's so nice!"

"Well of course she is." Jiji said, looking torn between laughing and staying stern. "It changed little. The Kyuubi isn't a part of her, it's just sealed in her. Like sealing a kunai into a scroll. It doesn't make the scroll into some strange kunai-paper hybrid, does it?"

"Well, no." Naruto admitted after a moment. Sakura appreciated the analogy, but she was more focused on not sweating her skin off, suddenly feeling very anxious.

"It makes you no different, Sakura-chan." Jiji said firmly enough that she nervously lifted her gaze to meet his. "You are just a girl. A shinobi, in fact. You are not the Kyuubi, and you being a Jinchuuriki does not make you a demon or a monster."

She was sure he was trying to reassure her. It was working, somewhat, but mostly, it just made her angry. Of _course_ she wasn't different. Of _course_ she wasn't a monster. She was just a girl. So why did everyone treat her like that in spite of it? Why did everyone _hate_ her for something that was _done to her_. It wasn't like she _wanted_ the Kyuubi sealed in her, whispering such awful things in her head.

"Naruto. You may not understand it yet, but when you become a Chuunin, you will. You, my dear boy, are your father's living legacy." Jiji informed him gently, making the boy's blue eyes fill up with tears. He sniffled, using his free hand to wipe at his eyes, and Jiji's gaze moved to her. "And you, Sakura-chan, are Kushina's living legacy."

Sakura just nodded, even though the words did send a rush of warmth through her.

But later that night, when she and Naruto were curled up and trying to sleep, her anxiety returned to her full force. If she was Kushina's legacy, she was failing at it, because the voice - the Kyuubi? - was still whispering in her head. Mocking her. "Naruto?" Sakura whispered anxiously and he grunted quietly in response. "Can I tell you a secret? Swear you won't tell Jiji?"

"What is it?" Naruto murmured and she could hear the frown in his voice.

"He talks to me." Sakura said softly. "The Kyuubi," she tagged on when Naruto didn't react. "He tells me to do awful things. To hurt people. But I listen to you." Sakura added anxiously, biting her lip.

After a moment of tense silence, Naruto draped an arm over her face, covering her eyes with a warm forearm. "Well tell him to shut up and get some sleep."

She laughed wetly in relief. _Shut up,_ she thought, and the Kyuubi growled.

* * *

She got up early the next day, anxiety interrupting her sleep, and headed downstairs to wait for Jiji in the kitchen. It didn't take long and she kept herself entertained by tracing a medium-ranged explosive tag onto some paper. In fact, she was on her sixth one when Jiji came downstairs.

"Should you really be doing that first thing in the morning, Sakura-chan?" He asked more curiously than anything and Sakura offered a small shrug in response.

"Maybe? It's probably good practice for when I'm in the field, isn't it?" She offered uncertainly. "I mean, I'm sure _sometime_ I'll have to make more of these while half asleep."

"So you intend to use them in combat?" Jiji mused slowly, setting a kettle on the stove. "You mainly use short-ranged attacks, Sakura-chan. How will you incorporate them into it?"

"Carefully, Jiji." Sakura informed him, making him smile a bit. "I was thinking kunai. Or maybe using a jutsu to throw them? I'm not sure. But Naruto and I are a strongly short-ranged team, aren't we?"

"Mm. Yes." Jiji acknowledged thoughtfully, carefully preparing his tea. "But your third teammate may make up for that, depending on who you get. You'll need to think of ways to tie them into your duo with Naruto - a team is made up of three, not two." Jiji said sternly and Sakura nodded.

"We'll think of some stuff once we know who they are, Jiji." She promised. He gave a soft hum of acknowledgement as he pulled the kettle off the stove and carefully finished up the tea. He turned around with two cups in hand, setting one at the island in front of Sakura. He stood at the other side of the island, setting his cup down and watching it steam for a moment.

"Sakura-chan." He said suddenly and Sakura looked back up at him, wary at the solemnity of his expression. "I want you to understand that I truly meant what I told you last night. You are _not_ the Kyuubi, and I have never doubted that for a moment."

"I…" Sakura hesitated, looking down at her hands. _I can't tell him._

 _ **No. You can't.**_ The voice - the Kyuubi - assured her almost _smugly_. _**He would lock us away forever, little girl. He'd seal your chakra, just to make sure I could**_ **never** _**get free. All at the cost of you.**_ He purred.

She really… _really_ hated his purr.

"You are you, Sakura-chan, and you are capable of love on another level than what most can achieve." Jiji told her gently, dragging her attention back to him, and she looked at him uncertainly. "The love you hold for your brother is incredible, and far beyond anything the Kyuubi could feel. Never forget that that's what sets you apart, Sakura-chan. So long as you can feel love, you are safe from him."

 _ **Pathetic.**_ The Kyuubi instantly snorted.

But Sakura didn't care, because at that moment, Naruto stumbled into the room yawning - and as she stared at him and Jiji, she realized that he was right.

She loved Naruto without a doubt, and Jiji too, and that made it so much easier to ignore the Kyuubi's violent encouragements.

* * *

The walk to the Academy was miserable. The conversation the night before only made her even more hyper aware of the glares sent her way, and she _hated_ it. It wasn't _right_. If anything, they should _appreciate_ the fact that she was the only thing keeping the Kyuubi from ripping them to pieces.

 _ **Oh, but you want to rip them to pieces, too.**_ The Kyuubi purred, and Sakura couldn't even deny that.

It _was_ kind of an appealing prospect. People couldn't glare at her if they didn't have eyeballs.

 _ **Good girl.**_ The Kyuubi chuckled.

She ignored him for that one, irritation making her skin feel too hot. She fought it back, trying to remind herself of Jiji's comforting words just two hours ago. "Who do you think our third teammate will be?" Naruto mused, distracting her immediately.

"I don't know, but I hope it isn't Ino." Sakura said. She was never going to forgive her for being first of their class to tie her hitai-ate around her waist. Now Sakura would look like she was copying her.

"Tch. No way. Ino's not very good." Naruto said dismissively. "We'll get someone awesome, I'd bet. Maybe Shikamaru!"

"Maybe." That wouldn't be so bad, since she was still pretty sure he was smarter than he let show. He finished tests way too quickly, and always read ahead so he could sleep in class. "I like Shino. He's quiet, but smart."

"He's _creepy_. And he talks weird." Naruto grimaced and Sakura couldn't help but grin a bit, the uncomfortable heat fading.

"That's true." She admitted as they reached the Academy, entering the main hall. "I guess we'll see. I wonder who we'll get as a sensei."

"I hope it's not Asuma. I know he's family and all, but I hate smoke." Naruto whined softly and Sakura nodded her agreement, both of them falling silent as they entered the classroom.

They'd only interacted with Asuma on the rare occasion, he and Jiji not getting along very well, and he seemed nice enough. But he smoked _way_ too much, it hurt her eyes. Jiji's pipe at least smelled more earthy than smokey.

She and Naruto silently slid into their usual seats, Choji next to Naruto and immediately offering him a chip while Sakura perched on the edge of the aisle. "Ooh, barbeque." Naruto whispered, eagerly accepting the chip.

"They're the _best_." Choji agreed quietly and Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"Mouth closed, Naruto." Sakura chided distractedly, watching as the world's second most annoying girl, Ami, slid into the room. Her hitai-ate was also around her neck, like Hinata's, and Sakura rolled her eyes. "I hope someone chokes her with it." She muttered.

Naruto burst out laughing. "Anego, that's _awful_." He cackled, making Ino and Ami both shoot them vicious glares from their spots in the room. Sakura met Ami's stare head on and imitated putting a noose around her neck and choking, sticking her tongue out and everything. Ami's eyes flew wide and Naruto slumped in his seat, laughing even harder.

She was pretty sure she heard Kiba snickering behind her.

"That's enough." Iruka barked as he entered the room, shooting Sakura a disapproving look and making her abruptly straighten up. "Alright, everyone's here, so I'm going to read off the teams. Team One, Ami, Kuren, and Jachi. After break, head to the room directly across the hall and sit together at the table marked 'One'." Iruka instructed, barely looking up from his clipboard to smile reassuringly at them.

Sakura waited patiently for Iruka to say her name. "Team Seven. Uzumaki Sakura," He smiled slightly as she straightened in her seat again. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Woo!" Naruto cheered, turning to grin excitedly at her.

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto frowned.

Sakura frowned, too.

Sasuke turned in his seat across the aisle to frown back at them, his eyes narrowed. "WHAT?" Naruto finally shrieked and Sakura leaned away with a grimace.

 _ **A punch to the throat would silence him.**_

"Why do two awesome shinobi like us have to be stuck with _that_ asshole?" Naruto demanded and Iruka heaved a heavy sigh, lowering his clipboard to face Naruto fully.

"It's to balance your team, Naruto. Sasuke is Rookie of the Year,"

"Curses." Sakura smacked the table in frustration. She really thought she'd had it.

 _ **You could've listened and punched**_ **him** _**in the throat, and then you**_ **would** _ **have the title.**_

 _Stop telling me to throat punch people._ Sakura snapped in her mind, scowling at the table.

"Sakura is, of course, a very close second, and you… Well, Naruto, you're dead last."

"WHAT?!" Naruto shrieked again and Sakura pat him on his back.

"Let it go, Naruto." She muttered and he sulked at her.

"But Sa-ku-raaaaaa!"

* * *

"I'm gonna go beat him up." Naruto had proclaimed the moment break started and Sakura had waved him off with a sigh. She'd learned _long_ ago not to waste time trying to stop him.

That had been an hour ago. Now, the two of them were finally filing into the room, and Sakura was amused to note Sasuke had a bit of a rope burn around one of his biceps. Naruto had a fat lip, though, and Sakura mimed throwing a lasso at Sasuke to cheer him up. It worked, though his responding grin made his lip bleed, and if Sasuke scowled any harder his face would fall off.

"Enjoy your break?" She couldn't help but ask once the two of them were sitting, with her in the middle to play mediator. Sasuke ignored her.

Naruto just snickered.

Three hours after that, all three of them were bored out of their mind. Or, well, Sasuke was. She and Naruto were only a little bored, playing a rapid fire game of 'I, Spy'. "Green." Naruto declared from where he sat at the table in front of her and Sasuke, facing backwards in his chair.

"Board."

"Nope."

"Leaves."

"Yep."

"Black." Sakura said.

"Hair?"

"No."

"Uh. Eyes?" Naruto guessed, squinting at Sasuke.

"I can't see them, Naruto." Sakura chided, rolling her eyes.

"Right. Oh! Chair leg."

"Actually, yes." Sakura admitted, startled.

"You're both annoying."

They both ignored him. "Tan."

"Ceiling tile."

" _Damn_ it." Naruto cursed, shooting the ceiling a dark look. Movement caught her eye.

"White." Sakura chose slowly, eyes shifting to stare at the window. Just outside it was a shinobi with spiky white hair, hanging upside down with his hitai-ate over one of his eyes. And he was _staring_ at her.

"Chalk." Naruto guessed obliviously.

"No." Sakura denied as the shinobi arched an eyebrow at her.

"Paper!"

"Nope." The shinobi snapped his hand once in a short wave. "Look out the window."

"Cloud?" Naruto guessed as he turned, only to flinch violently at the sight of the shinobi. "Ahg! What the hell!" Even Sasuke twitched a little, though she thought that might've been more out of annoyance than surprise.

"Language." Sakura scolded absently as she stood up, heading over to the window to slide it open.

" _That's_ our sensei?" She heard Naruto mutter as she took a step back, giving the shinobi space to swing himself in.

"You took your time." The Jounin said by way of greeting, frowning under his mask at her.

"Doors exist for a reason." Sakura said with an unapologetic shrug.

"And you're rude, too."

"Well my parents were pretty absent, being dead and all."

"And _offensive_." He said disapprovingly. "My first opinion of you all? You suck."

"Hey!" Naruto protested immediately.

"I've been told I'm socially awkward." Sakura informed the jounin with another shrug. "I'm Uzumaki Sakura," She added, gesturing over her shoulder to Naruto. "And the blonde is my brother, Naruto."

"Ah. Which leaves the Uchiha. Well." The Jounin heaved a heavy sigh, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, and then cheerfully clapped his hands together. "Let's go to the roof, then!" He announced, then flung himself right back out the window. Sakura stuck her head out just to see his feet disappearing over the edge of the roof, frowning incredulously.

Their sensei sure was… _different_.

"Great. I'm never going to learn anything." Sasuke growled under his breath as he and Naruto reluctantly headed to the window. Sakura climbed her way out, then used chakra to scale the rest of the way to the roof. Naruto followed a moment later, Sasuke just leaping his way up right behind him.

"Did you two just walk your way up?" The Jounin asked, sounding surprised, and Sakura frowned at him a bit because she was pretty sure he already knew the answer to that. "Dead last indeed." He muttered. "Hmph. Well, let's introduce ourselves then. We'll start with the cute one." He pointed at Sakura, who frowned even harder at that. "Tell us your name, your likes, your dislikes, your dreams, and hobbies."

She stared at him flatly. "Really?"

"You're wasting our time." Sasuke accused, actually agreeing with Sakura for once.

"You're boring, too." The Jounin said in a disappointed sigh.

"Fine. My name is Uzumaki Sakura, though I already introduced myself so I'm not sure why I have to repeat it. I like Naruto. I dislike people who are rude." The Jounin frowned at her. "My dreams are definitely strange. Last night I dreamt I turned into a unicorn and stabbed a turkey because it ate a sock." She recited dryly, purposefully misunderstanding the command. From the arched look the Jounin gave her, he knew it, too. "My hobbies include practicing with Naruto and Jiji, reading up on jutsu, and soon I'll be learning kenjutsu as well."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like Sakura-chan too, and Jiji and Iruka-sensei and ramen! Especially Sakura and ramen." Naruto proclaimed without having to be told, nodding along with his last words. Sakura sent him a warm grin for that. "I dislike people who are mean to Sakura-chan. My dream is to replace Jiji as Hokage! My hobbies are pranks and training with Sakura and learning stuff from Jiji!"

"Aa… cute." The Jounin said approvingly. "And onto the glaring one." He pointed at Sasuke before folding his hands in his lap and looking at them expectantly.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't like many things. I dislike lots of things. I don't really have a dream, but I have a goal to kill a particular person." He intoned flatly, sounding somewhat dangerous. The intention was damaged by how young and and _green_ he was, though, and mostly she just thought he was… weird. Sakura twitched slightly at his words, though, grimacing a bit. _Itachi, no doubt_.

 _ **We could kill him first. It would feel good, and imagine the little pest's reaction…**_ Kyuubi purred and Sakura's lips twitched a tiny bit. Sasuke's face if she did it… it would probably keep her going for _weeks_.

 _Maybe later._ She decided and the Kyuubi gave an irritated growl but said nothing else. She was glad for it.

"Do your hobbies include kicking kittens by any chance?" She couldn't help but mutter sarcastically to Naruto, who didn't know the definition of subtle and promptly burst into terribly muffled giggles. The Jounin stared at them flatly and she urgently elbowed him in the arm, trying to look innocent.

"Wonderful." The Jounin sighed heavily again. "Well, then. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like a lot of things, and dislike some things. I don't really want to share my dreams, and I have lots of hobbies."

 _So… he told us nothing._ Sakura fought the urge to sigh herself.

"Well that's it for the introductions. Tomorrow we'll be starting our duties as Team Seven."

"Woohoo! What duties? Missions?" Naruto asked eagerly and Sasuke shot him an annoyed look for his loudness.

"Survival training." Kakashi corrected, making Sakura frown slightly.

"Did the Academy not do a good enough job covering that?" She asked curiously. It was possible - survival training as a student would be understandably easier than as an official shinobi…

"It isn't the same type of surviving." Kakashi said brightly, and Sakura immediately felt uneasy. "You three will have to survive against me. And if you fail, well… you should know," Kakashi revealed slowly, "that of the twenty-seven graduates from your class, only nine of you will become genin - the rest will return to the Academy."

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted _again_ and Sakura's eyebrows flew up, then furrowed. "Then all of that was for nothing?"

"The graduation? No, that was to see if you had what it took to become genin - whether or not you'll actually do it _successfully_ is for us sensei to find out. Anyways, head to training ground three first thing tomorrow morning. Be there at eight and don't eat breakfast or you'll throw up. Goodnight!" Kakashi waved brightly at them before shunshin'ing away. Naruto stared stupidly after him, jaw dropped, and Sasuke rose with a grunt.

"Don't hold me back."

"Shut up." Sakura spat at him angrily enough that he actually turned to look at her, eyebrows raised a bit. "Naruto and I work well together, we've spent our entire lives training together - it's _you_ who'll hold us back tomorrow, Uchiha."

"Yeah! And we better not fail because of you, teme!" Naruto cried, dragged from his daze.

"Tch. If we fail, it'll be because of you, _dead last_."

Sakura glared at his back. He was _lucky_ he was already walking away.

"Don't bother, Naruto." She advised when he was clearly preparing to charge after the Uchiha. "We should get home and talk to Jiji about that jutsu he wanted to teach you."

"Alright. Hey!" Naruto brightened up. "And you get to learn kenjutsu, too! So _cool_. I wish I could use a sword."

"It _is_ pretty cool, isn't it?" Sakura admitted with a grin, anger forgotten as they headed back towards the Hokage's home. "I hope I'm not too bad at it. I don't think I'll make it my focus, though."

"No? I want to focus on jutsus like Jiji said. I'm going to become a jutsu expert like him! What'll _you_ focus on, then?"

"I'm not sure yet, but I bet you _will_ get it. Even if we fail tomorrow, we'll just train some more and graduate again next year." Sakura decided aloud and Naruto nodded, throwing his hands up behind his head as they walked.

"Yeah, but we won't fail anyways. We're great, Anego."

* * *

They _failed_. Sakura was still a little bit shocked over that fact as she and Sasuke sat there, Naruto tied to the post between them.

It had started off bad from the very beginning. Kakashi showed up _hours_ later, _again_ , and then Naruto attacked him before their sensei had even said it was time. Sakura hadn't hesitated to throw herself into the fray after him, even though she knew two brand new genin were no better against a jounin than _one_. Sasuke had watched them with a superior little smirk as Naruto got sent flying, and Sakura had jumped away before Kakashi could turn on her too.

But the second he _did_ say 'start', Sasuke had ditched her, and Sakura had retreated to get Naruto herself - only for the blonde to throw himself at Kakashi before they could come up with a plan.

 _Again_.

Kakashi had ranted and raved at them when the test was over ( _failed_ ). He insulted them, suggesting (demanding) that they all outright quit as shinobi. Sasuke, the twitchy little bastard, had taken the insults and literally run with them, charging at Kakashi with a furious glare. Sakura, suffering from the sudden sinking feeling that she was actually the only one with common sense, (seriously, he was a _jounin!_ ) didn't move to help. Not that she even could have, because Kakashi had literally just _sat_ on Sasuke, using one foot to push his face into the ground and everything, and had just continued on with his lecture.

"Naruto, your eagerness was _recklessness_ , and if we were in a real fight, you could've gotten yourself killed - and taken your sister down with you. Sasuke, you didn't even _try_ to work with anyone, no doubt thinking that they'd hold you back. Sakura, you were the only one who got even close to the idea when you tried to work with Naruto, but you blatantly ignored and dismissed Sasuke as well."

"In short, you all fail."

Sakura felt the sudden urge to choke Sasuke and Naruto both. She forced it down and listened intently to Kakashi anyways - if for no other reason than because none of his complaints were some variation of her being 'a monster'. She was actually pretty surprised how he treated her _exactly_ like the others. Even if that meant he was being insulting and offensive.

Which led to them sitting there in sullen silence, picking at their food. Well, Sasuke and her were - Naruto was strung up between them under strict orders to not be fed. "Gaaaaaah. I'm soo _hungry_." Naruto whined as if reading her thoughts and Sakura heaved a tired sigh.

"So am I." She admitted after a moment, giving her meal an unimpressed look. After that painfully bad fight with Kakashi, she'd need _three_ of them to satisfy her.

It was barely a second later, though, that Naruto perked right back up. "But it's fine! I don't need food. After this is over, we'll work together to kick his ass!" He declared, the effect somewhat damaged by the loud roar his stomach gave.

Sakura grimaced, glancing at her food and hesitating. It really wasn't enough for even just her, but… Naruto was obviously hungrier. "Here." Sasuke said and she turned to see him holding his food up to Naruto.

"...Uh?" Sakura blinked, caught off guard by the random… generosity. From _Sasuke_ , world's number one sulker.

"I don't sense him nearby, so we'll just need to be quick. Like Naruto said, we'll work together," He explained and Sakura felt even more startled, "but that won't matter much if he can't focus." The slightly scathing tone at the end ruined the effect.

"Right. I'll give some of mine, too." Sakura said, scooting in front of Naruto. She grabbed a bit of beef and rice on her chopsticks and lifted it up, offering it to Naruto. He smiled a little sheepishly at her before accepting it.

Which was the same moment there was a big explosion of leaves and smoke barely a few feet away. "AH!" Naruto screeched as she and Sasuke struggled to get into a fighting position in time.

"YOU GUYS," Kakashi roared as he charged out of the smoke, only to freeze a foot away and smile. "Pass."

Team Seven stared at him incredulously.

"...Uh?" Naruto offered uncertainly.

"Er. Why?" Sakura questioned very, very slowly, watching Kakashi's face (or one quarter of his face, really) for any signs of another intense mood swing.

"You're the first team to pass the test, actually." Kakashi said in some surprise as he straightened up. "All the others just did what I told them, even though it went against what I'd _just_ said. Idiots. A ninja must see underneath the underneath." Kakashi lectured with a tiny frown. "Those who break the rules and codes of the shinobi lifestyle are called trash, but you know what?" Kakashi said almost thoughtfully, looking up a bit. "Those who don't put their comrades first are _lower_ than trash."

Sakura blinked at him in surprise, glancing sideways at Naruto - who was staring at Kakashi in awe. "I don't think that'll ever be a problem for us, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said firmly, turning to look at him again.

Kakashi smiled warmly at her and nodded. "Good. That ends the training, then! All of you pass!" He declared cheerfully. Sakura wasted no time in jumping up and cutting Naruto free with a kunai. "Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will officially begin their duties. Be here at eight in the morning for your first missions!"

"Yay! We did it!" Naruto cheered, jumping excitedly. Sakura watched him with a grin, even though her ears hurt at his volume, while Kakashi and Sasuke started to leave. When Naruto started shouting, "Ninja, ninja, ninja!" over and over again, Sakura decided to catch up with them and see how long it took Naruto to realize.

(It took four entire minutes).


End file.
